Phil Dalhausser, left, and Nick Lucena see their 2017 AVP Manhattan Beach Open championship plaques, which are embedded in the Manhattan Beach Pier, during a ceremony on Thursday. Dalhausser and Lucena are the top-seeded duo for this year’s event, with Main Draw play set to begin on Friday. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

Phil Dalhausser makes a big block during a quarterfinal match at the 2017 World Series of Beach Volleyball in Long Beach. The three-time Olympian and partner Nick Lucena are the top-seeded duo for this week’s AVP Manhattan Beach Open. Main Draw play begins Friday. (Photo by Scott Varley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)

Phil Dalhausser returns a ball during the Huntington Beach Open earlier this spring. Dalhausser and partner Nick Lucena, not pictured, are the top-seeded duo for this week’s AVP Manhattan Beach Open. Main draw play begins Friday morning. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Phil Dalhausser, left, and Nick Lucena see their 2017 AVP Manhattan Beach Open championship plaques, which are embedded in the Manhattan Beach Pier, during a ceremony on Thursday. Dalhausser and Lucena are the top-seeded duo for this year’s event, with Main Draw play set to begin on Friday. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

From left, Phil Dalhausser, City of Manhattan Beach mayor Amy Howorth, and Nick Lucena pose for a photo during the ceremony of 2017 AVP Manhattan Beach Open championship plaque at Manhattan Beach on Thursday, August 16, 2018. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

Andy Benesh, left, dives to save the ball going behind him during an AVP Manhattan Beach Open qualifying match on Thursday at Manhattan Beach. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

Timothy Brewster dives for a dig during an AVP Manhattan Beach Open qualifying match on Thursday. Main Draw play begins Friday. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

Drew Hamilton, left, tips the ball over the net as Kyle Friend, right, looks to block it during an AVP Manhattan Beach Open qualifying match on Thursday at Manhattan Beach. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

Kristin Grissom dives for a dig during an AVP Manhattan Beach Open qualifying match on Thursday at Manhattan Beach. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

Noel Khirsukhani dives for a dig during an AVP Manhattan Beach Open qualifying match on Thursday at Manhattan Beach. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

Etan Bennett makes a dig during an AVP Manhattan Beach Open qualifying match on Thursday at Manhattan Beach. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

Rob McLean, left, and Robert DeAurora celebrate a point during an AVP Manhattan Beach Open qualifying match on Thursday. Main Draw play begins Friday. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

Spectators gather to watch a qualifying match during an AVP Manhattan Beach Open qualifying match on Thursday at Manhattan Beach. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

2017 Manhattan Beach Open winner Brittany Hochevar, second from left, Emily Day, third from left, Phil Dalhausser, center, and Nick Lucena, third from right, pose with their plaques during a ceremony on Thursday at Manhattan Beach. It was the sixth plaque for three-time Olympian Dalhausser. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

From left, 2017 Manhattan Beach Open champions Brittany Hochevar, Emily Day, Nick Lucena and Phil Dalhausser applaud during a ceremony where they were presented their plaques the night before main draw play begins in the 2018 event. It was the sixth such honor for Dalhausser, a three-time Olympian. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

From left, Brittany Hochevar, City of Manhattan Beach mayor Amy Howorth, and Emily Day pose for a photo during the ceremony honoring the 2017 AVP Manhattan Beach Open champions on Thursday. Main Draw play in the 2018 MB Open begins on Friday. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

Brittany Hochevar, left, and Emily Day reveal their 2017 AVP Manhattan Beach Open championship plaque at the Manhattan Beach Pier during a ceremony on Thursday. Main Draw play in the 2018 MB Open begins on Friday. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)

MANHATTAN BEACH — If Phil Dalhausser isn’t careful, the city of Manhattan Beach is going to start charging him rent.

Dalhausser on Thursday was honored with his sixth plaque on the deck of the pier there, his reward for winning the 2017 Manhattan Beach Open with partner Nick Lucena, who earned his second plaque.

Brittany Hochevar and Emily Day, no longer partners, won the women’s title in ’17 and both now have two plaques.

This is anything but old hat to Dalhausser, the 6-foot-9, 201-pounder nicknamed “The Thin Beast.”

“It’s a pretty humbling thing,” said Dalhausser, 38, of Ventura. “All the American beach volleyball legends are on this pier and to be on there with them, it’s just a pretty cool thing.”

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Dalhausser and Lucena, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will be the top-seeded duo when main draw play begins Friday morning. That suggests Dalhausser, a three-time Olympian, still has plenty left to give.

“I just kind of take it one tournament at a time,” said Dalhausser, who, along with then-partner Todd Rogers won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Games. “Let’s see how I feel after the offseason and if I want to continue. But I haven’t made any concrete decision on whether I’m going to go for 2020 (Tokyo Games) or not.”

Dalhausser and Rogers failed to medal in the 2012 London Games, and Dalhausser and Lucena did not medal at the 2016 Rio Games, losing to the eventual gold medalists in the quarterfinals.

Day, of Torrance, was thrilled that she received her second plaque the year after receiving her first.

“It’s really special,” she said. “So we won last year and the feeling after was like, ‘Whoa, did that just happen again?’ And to have your name on the pier multiple times just kind of solidifies to you that you deserve to be there.

“And this tournament is so hard to win that it’s incredible that we were able to do it two years in a row.”

Day, 31, intimated that winning at Manhattan Beach is indeed a bit more memorable.

“Oh, yeah, it’s definitely safe to say,” she said. “It’s the Wimbledon of beach volleyball. It’s a bigger draw, so more teams. It’s in Manhattan Beach, the birthplace of beach volleyball in front of family and friends and fans who love the game, so it does make it that much more special.”

Day is now partnering with Betsi Flint of Phoenix and the duo is the No. 2 seed in this tournament. Interestingly, Hochevar and her new partner – former USC standout Kelly Claes of Placentia, are seeded No. 1.

Hochevar, 37, of Fowler, Colo., played collegiately at Long Beach State.

MAIN DRAW

Rounding out the top four seeds in the men’s main draw are No. 2 Theo Brunner and John Hyden, No. 3 Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb and No. 4 Billy Allen and Ryan Doherty.

Local favorite Sean Rosenthal of Redondo Beach and former NBA player Chase Budinger of Carlsbad are seeded eighth.